The Gods Role In Homer's The Odyssey

Throughout the story of Odysseus’s journey told by Homer, there are many defining examples of interaction between humans and their gods. The gods primarily interact with humans by either siding with or against them. The gods would often side with humans since they wanted to help them such as Athena, Goddess of Wisdom, helping Telemachus, Odysseus’s son, whereas the gods seeking revenge such as Poseidon, who sought revenge on Odysseus for slaying his son Polyphemus, would turn against them. While actual interaction between gods and humans seems to be a rather risible idea, there was much guidance given to humans by the gods throughout the Odyssey.

In “The Odyssey,” on the other hand, Homer portrayed the interactions between the gods and the mortals as being strictly direct. First, we saw this direct interaction between Athena, the goddess of wisdom and Odysseus’ son, Telemachus. Athena took the form of Mentes and appeared to Telemachus, to inspire him to call an assembly and disapprove of his mother’s suitors, and for him to commission a boat and crew to travel to Sparta and the sands of Pylos in search of news of his father (Homer

Poseidon, Apollo, Athena, Zeus, and Hermes are all Greek Gods that appear in the epic poem The Odyssey by Homer. These gods all play a significant role in The Odyssey by both helping and hindering Odysseus on his 10-year journey home. Homer illustrates the theme of divine intervention in The Odyssey using Poseidon’s wrath, Athena’s providence, and Hermes’ guidance.

For thousands of people, what is holy and what is moral comes from religious texts that act as a guide for individuals for how they ought to live their lives. This idea of holiness and morality for many is deeply rooted in the understanding that it originates with God; it is a necessary condition for it to be binding. However, what if what is holy and moral didn’t originate from God’s goodness, rather it comes from other mediums and is itself good thus being approved by God? This idea of existence and thought is a question that can be outlined in Plato’s, The Euthyphro.

The Odyssey is an epic poem written by the blind, illiterate poet Homer. It takes place in ancient Greece and tells of a man’s journey home from war. The topic, intervention of the gods, is seen throughout the book numerous times as the gods who are in favor of Odysseus lend a helping hand. It is well-known that the gods are very important to the Greeks. In this epic poem, The Odyssey, Homer demonstrates the importance of the positive and encouraging intervention of the gods in Greek culture; the brave actions, encouraging words, and cunning strategies of Athena as she assists and guides Odysseus on his journey back home.

The relationships between the Greek gods and mortals have always been complicated. The gods can be generous and supportive, but also harsh and destructive towards the humans. They claim to be all powerful beings with unlimited power and influence, but in truth, they are far more human than they are perceived. They meddle with human lives, not because they are wise, but because of their own selfish reasons. In Homer’s The Odyssey, gods like Athena and Poseidon interfere with humans to satisfy their own desires, showing that they are just as imperfect and flawed as the mortals that they rule over.

The Influence of Divine Intervention on the Portrayal of Fate and Free Will in The Odyssey by Homer

In Homer’s Odyssey, gods and other supernatural beings dominated every aspect of mortal life. All living things and phenomena that occur in the world can be traced back to the gods. Seeing as how gods are responsible for the lives of mortals and the state of the natural world, performing deeds that anger the gods would prove to be disastrous while performing deeds that please the gods would prove to be beneficial. Odysseus’ journey back to Ithaca after the Trojan War was took ten years due to angering gods like Poseidon and Helios. However, it was through Athena’s aid that he was able to make it back home. The gods are beings capable of bringing misfortune or greatness which is why mortals tend to perform sacrifices in honor of the gods due

Throughout the evolution of society, one idea has stayed the same. That is the belief that we need to consistently be the best and the most powerful. We use this as a measure of self-worth and the foundation of the social hierarchy. The hierarchical nature of society drives this motivation of people to do everything it takes to reach the top. Our commitment can be so incredibly devout that we lose more than we gain on the search for this sense of power. These concepts can even be applied to ancient societies in Greek mythology. Many gods were blinded by the desire of having authority over others or being feared by their competitors and fellow civilians. The god’s persistent angst over this idea of sovereignty consumed them and morphed them into beings filled with vain. The gods are figures of tyranny because of their obsession of power leading to the perpetration of sociopathic acts such as Cronus killing his father, Uranus, Athena challenging Arachne causing Arachne’s death, and Aphrodite scheming against Psyche.

Greek mythology can be viewed as a mirror to the ancient Greek civilization. Ancient Greek myths and legends often reflected how the Greeks saw themselves. Myths were used by Greeks to make justifications of every existing aspect of earth as well as their own society. In myths, Greek gods & heroes often represented key aspects of the human civilization. From Greek mythology, we can learn about the favorable characteristics of humans, such as their behavior and valuable skills that were approved of by the ancient Greek society. We can also learn about what was viewed as immoral or of little value. In addition, reviewing the Greek myths allows us to determine that the Greek society was generally a patriarchal society and agricultural and war were strong elements that shaped the ancient Greek society.

In the Epic of Gilgamesh interrelationships between the humans and gods are not what we are used to in most modern monotheistic societies. Perhaps the greatest difference between the power of humans and gods is when Gilgamesh is referred to as “Two-thirds of him was divine, one-third of him was human!” (39) as this reveals Gilgamesh to be the son of Lugalbanda the former king and the goddess Ninsun. This would indicate that the line between human and god is an extremely thin one and thus gods cannot and are not that vastly different from their human counterparts. Indeed, throughout the journey of Gilgamesh we are confronted by gods and goddesses who are similar to humans in their desires and means of achieving them. This can make life difficult for humans as the gods tend to believe they are to be worshipped by all, but merely worshipping them does not give their divine aid or protection and should you scorn them you would face their wrath.

The belief system and the presence of God is one of the things many cultures and people have taken for granted. In Homer’s Odyssey, there is a presence of the gods which makes mortal to have the ability to talk to them, see them and even feel their presence around them. In this epic, what fascinated me is how the gods showed love towards odyssey throughout his journey. In the Greece empire, the power of the gods is the most constantly praised which

In the epic poem The Odyssey, Homer portrays Greek gods and goddesses as possessing human qualities and faults. Through their actions and emotions, Homer emphasizes the detrimental effects of lust, envy, wrath, and greed in ancient Grecian society. He also never fails to remind readers of the importance of respect for holy figures because of their powerful abilities to create chaos and wonder". Homer wants to prove that gods and humans share a variety of traits, and the only difference is that god don’t allow these flaws negatively to impact their society. To help further his argument, we can compare Greek gods and goddesses to that of Christianity. These almighty figures are the world’s greatest thing because they never harm humans, they don’t desire sexual needs from mortals, and they don’t expect endless gifts and sacrifices.

The gods represent the best and worst, and they show us both the possibilities and limitations of human behavior. If nothing else, the gods remind us of the overwhelming

The Iliad, written by Homer, is an ancient Greek epic about the Trojan War, which the divine certainly influences. Unlike how most gods might act or behave in books nowadays, the gods in the Iliad share some uncommon traits. For example helping their favorite morals, the idea of justice and harmony is surely excluded in the portrayal of Greek gods. The divine in the Iliad are characterized as very emotional and somewhat manipulative. Regardless of what occurs, it 's all the doing of the gods. Humans are like puppets; they have the freedom of choice however their decisions are constantly interfered by the gods. The god’s are given respect due to their extreme power, as mortals know, if offended a god, one would most likely have to face severe consequences. Nonetheless, the gods are not all powerful, as they have emotions that drive them hence weakens them. In Ancient Greek society, having the gods in your favor played a critical role in peoples daily lives, as the gods would extremely influence decision, have significant power over one’s fate, and have direct involvement in the lives of humans.